


No rest for the Weary

by kuroneko1815



Series: Narutails [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Amaranthe is Naruto's doting grandmother that Minato never asked for, Death to the Caged Bird Seal, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Female Harry Potter is the Uzumaki clan's ancestor, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Good Orochimaru (Naruto), Kakashi is an over protective big brother, Namikaze Minato Lives, No Uchiha Clan Massacre, Obito why?, The Sannin all return to Konoha, The Uzumaki clan make a comeback
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroneko1815/pseuds/kuroneko1815
Summary: The last thing Minato would have expected after performing the seal was to wake up to a woman with hair as red as his wife's and eyes so ancient he couldn't even fathom the ages she must have witnessed but meeting his wife's ancestor who just so happened to be the Master of Death? Yeah, no, never would have occurred to him. Still, being offered a chance to escape the fate of being sealed into the stomach of the Reaper and the opportunity to raise his little girl and stop the potential destruction of life as he knew it all was too good to pass up. Of course, he forgot to take into account the amount of paperwork that would amount to as a Hokage post-war and preparing for the next big one.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Namikaze Minato, Harry Potter & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Narutails [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698040
Comments: 14
Kudos: 179





	No rest for the Weary

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Naruto but I do hope you enjoy this. Also, I'm a sucker for Female Naruto and Female Harry stories so I thought, why not put them both in one story?

Minato blinks against the bright light, Kushina absent from his arms and he sits up. Had it all been a dream? The birth of their daughter? The Kyuubi? Their deaths? He walks for a while before he comes upon a hall and there is a woman with her back turned to him. He takes in the red hair and rushes to her, his wife’s name at the tip of his tongue but she turns and the illusion is shattered.

Apart from the hair, everything else about her was wrong. She was shorter than his wife, paler, younger, and had green eyes. An Uzumaki that survived the purge, perhaps? But her eyes are ancient and she looks at him with curiosity and sadness.

“Namikaze Minato, Fourth Hokage of Konoha, the Yellow Flash. Well met.” She says as she takes the last few steps towards him.

Minato easily slips back into the façade of Hokage and bows towards the Lady and oh, he can feel the power bristling underneath and it’s humbling to feel such a thing. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Lady.”

“Call me Amaranthe, Master of Death.” She says with a twist to her lips. “Walk with me.” She says as a path opens up to a lush forest bursting with life and fauna that he’s never even seen.

“I can understand your confusion, Minato.” He doesn’t dare correct her with the proper use of honorifics. “Your daughter will be an outcast.” She says and he flinches. “She will grow up alone and isolated, scorned by the very people who should adore her but people are weak and easy to blame anything and anyone, even an innocent babe whose very existence had saved them. She’ll find allies in time, perhaps even love, and she’ll need it. There are dark times ahead.”

The glance she throws him is calculated and knowing, she doesn’t even glance at his hands, clenched tightly at the thought of his baby, only hours old, cursed to a burden he’d consigned her too in order to save the very people who would push her away. “But she doesn’t have to be alone. I could send  _you_ back.”

“Just… just me?” He asks the lady tentatively after a pause as his mind whirls.

“Just you. Your wife’s body and spirit are too battered and I can only send one back, the seals that were broken had too much of an impact on it, it’s likely that if she were the one that I send back, she would die within minutes which rather defeats the purpose.” The lady says softly, her golden crown laced with obsidian glints ominously while her mantle of white covers her through the chill that breezes by rustling the red and gold dress that wraps around her.

“But the seal that I used…” He trailed off before cursing himself internally, he really didn’t want to spend eternity trapped in the Shinigami’s stomach… her stomach?

She waved her hand away. “Think of this as a loophole. You do this for me and your soul may join your wife in the true afterlife.”

Could he do it? Could he return to a life without his beloved Kushina? Could he raise his daughter as well as he would if his wife was beside him? And finally, could he really consign his daughter to such a life without at least one of them to protect her heart and shelter her through the loneliness, without the protection of either of her parents from the man that still ran rampant and determined to release the Bijuu?

Mind made up, he nodded at the Master of Death and nodded. “Tell me what to do.”

The mischievous beaming smile he gets in return reminds him painfully of his wife’s and makes him pause as they stop by the door. “Listen closely, Namikaze Minato, because we’re going to screw up the bad guy's plans…”

* * *

Namikaze Minato, The Yellow Flash, Fourth Hokage of Konoha lay on the ground beside his wife, their crying newborn daughter just a few meters away as the Third Hokage and Fugaku gazed at the Namikazes solemn and quiet. As one of the KMPF bent down to pick up the babe, Namikaze Minato sprang up, gasping for air and eyes blinking frantically.

Everyone jumped back in surprise as the previously dead man gazed around in confusion, an attack at the ready towards the Uchiha reaching for his daughter.  **“Step away from my daughter.”** He growled and made to stand up but collapsed but the man was undeterred. ‘Naruto, Naruto, Naruto.’ The man said as he crawled to her.

This seemed to snap Hiruzen and Fugaku as they quickly ordered everyone back. Whatever miracle had returned Minato to life had not worked on his wife and it seemed that Minato was aware of that, the moment of clarity he’d had as he woke had appeared when he’d thrown a pained glance at Kushina’s body before his mind focused on the sound of his daughter’s cry and the man had turned positively feral against them.

Fugaku turned to one of his cousins as his mind whirled and he thought of one possible solution to calming the Yondaime. “Get Mikoto. My wife would be the only one he would implicitly trust with his daughter right now.” And he seriously hoped it would work.

He watched as Minato made it to his daughter and pulled back slowly, towards Kushina with his daughter in his arms. It was clear that he was in need of serious medical aid before whatever miracle ran out and he would die again but it was also clear that none of them would be able to get close to the three Namikazes. Minato was disoriented and knew only two things, his wife was dead and someone had nearly killed his daughter, he was dangerous.

Thankfully Mikoto arrived not too long after that. Fugaku could see the sheer devastation in her face as she took in the sight of her dearest friend laying still in a puddle of her blood. She didn’t ask questions about what needed to be done as she tentatively approached the family. “Minato.” She called out softly a short distance away.

“Minato, it’s me, Mikoto.” She said soothingly. “You need to let the medic-nin check on your daughter, okay?”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. And you need to get checked too.”

“I can’t trust them with her. Not with her.” He said. The wild look in his eyes held _some_ recognition but it was clear that they weren’t dealing with the calm and even-tempered Yondaime right now, this was a father who’d just witnessed an attack on his family.

“Yes, you can. I’ll hold her, and I won’t let go.” She said as she approached. He glared at her and for a moment Fugaku had prepared himself to get to his wife as quickly as he could.

Minato threw a look at Kushina. “I can’t leave her alone.”

“You won’t. She won’t be alone. I’ll stay with them both. Okay.” Mikoto promised. “Let Hiruzen-sama check on you really quick and I’ll give her back to you immediately.”

Minato finally relaxed and allowed his daughter to be taken from his arms. The moment she was gone from his hands, he collapsed back to the ground and for a moment they all feared he was dead once more before a medic-nin jumped into action and checked on him. “He’s alive, exhausted and needs to be taken to a hospital but he’s alive.” The medic-nin declared.

* * *

It had been two days of utter chaos as the people of Konoha had set about trying to account for the dead and tending to their wounded, two days since the Kyuubi attacked. There were whispers and accusations thrown about but until the Yondaime awoke, there would be no way to confirm which of the gossip was true. That didn’t mean that people were sitting back and waiting patiently, everyone could feel the sparks of unrest on the streets, they wanted, no  _needed_ to blame someone for their losses.

The next time Minato awoke, Hyuuga Hiromi and Uchiha Mikoto were sitting in his room and tending to his daughter. The sight of their dearest friend’s husband awake spurred them on as Hiromi rushed to call for the medical staff  _and_ the council. Mikoto on the other hand, set about calming the man by bringing his daughter close.

The sight of his daughter content and cared for, looking dazedly back at him with blue eyes matching his own had completely calmed him so much so that by the time the council and the flurry of medical staff arrived, he was content to sit back and allow them to fuss over him, his eyes never straying from the babe in the cradle by his bed. By the time the medics left with a small declaration not to overtax him, his daughter was already in his arms.

“What happened?” Danzo demanded. “Which Uchiha was it?”

Fugaku bristled beside the man. “It wasn’t an Uchiha, or at least, it wasn’t an Uchiha that I had ever encountered. He was masked but the voice, the feel of the Chakra, it was all wrong and… it was corrupted somehow.” Minato told them as calmly as he could.  _‘The man that broke the seal on your wife is still out there and he’s not done yet. Don’t let yourself be caught up in revenge, raise your daughter and prepare your people.’_ The Lady had instructed him.

“Are you sure?”

Minato turned his eyes on the Warhawk and nodded. “The Lady said that this man wasn’t done with Konoha yet.”

“The Lady?”

“Death. She brought me back here but she couldn’t bring Kushina back, the seal was… it did more damage than just the physical one. Her chakra _and_ her soul were both disrupted by it’s breaking.” Minato told them, going for honesty on this. “The Lady told me that he was planning something much worse in the future and our people need to be prepared.” _‘His predecessor cheated death in one of the most abominable ways possible and then used it on him to help him cheat it.’_ Came floating back into his mind.

‘ _Who, lady?’_

“ _Uchiha Madara and his descendant Uchiha Obito.’_

Minato didn’t want to know how the man had cheated death, especially in a way that even the Master of Death found it to be an abomination. He didn’t name either man though, according to records, Uchiha Madara had been dead for a hundred years while Obito, his former student, was declared dead during a mission that he and Kakashi had been a part off, he didn’t want any blame falling on the loyal Uchihas or his student. He cleared his mind and got back onto the topic.

“Why you?”

“Because I’m the Hokage, I can affect the most change. Besides that, the Lady is angry, whoever did this had been escaping death’s justice for a long while now and apparently, has been giving her more paperwork.” And Minato could remember how the Lady had raged over the influx of paperwork she now had to do due to the sheer amount of deaths.

“What have we told the people?”

“Merely that Kushina was able to seal it away.”

Minato relaxed at that. Naruto hadn’t been labeled a jinchuuriki yet. “Tell them that she managed to stall it by sealing it away in herself as she died and that she’s delayed it for now until it reincarnates.” He doesn’t need to finish the sentence, Hiruzen, he knows understands his meaning. Let his daughter be known as the  _future_ jinchuuriki, let her have her life, let the people treat her how they would. The daughter of their savior and their potential savior. It ran counter to what he’d said before he died but he remembered the words the Lady had said, loneliness and scorn would be what she would receive otherwise.

“For now though… Hiromi-san, Mikoto-san, may I ask for your help in caring for my daughter?” Minato asked softly as he turned his attention back to his precious little girl. All of the plans that he and Kushina had made, all of the things they were going to show their little girl, it was always meant to be done as a family, as a partnership and now, now he found himself unbalanced. He wondered where Kakashi was and if Jiraya had been recalled. He could certainly use them close to him right now.

“Of course, Minato-san.” The ladies smiled at him.

* * *

Kakashi arrives at his Sensei’s room, hands clenched as he steadies himself to apologize for his failure in protecting Kushina-san even though he knew that he’d been relieved of guard duty beforehand. Then a voice snaps him out of his self-loathing. “There’s no point to staying out there, I can sense you, you know?” Sensei says through the door.

He enters immediately and sees Minato-sensei’s bloodshot eyes and messy hair. He looks tired but his hold is gentle and strong as he cradles the baby in his arms. “Come, Kakashi, meet your little sister Naruto.” He says.

Kakashi comes as he’s ordered too and startles when Sensei holds out the baby to him. The baby is all Minato-sensei, from the sunshine blonde hair to the unfocused sky blue eyes and tanned skin… the whiskers though… there was no doubt that it was due to the Kyuubi residing within Kushina-san’s womb. He breathed in the scent of the baby so whole and new before returning her to Minato. “Jiraiya will be returning soon, the reconstruction has begun and we’ve finished digging out the bodies.”

Minato nods. “I have been deemed well enough not to drop dead at a moment’s notice.” He said drily before turning to look at him once more. “I will be addressing everyone tonight. You’ll be in the back and I expect you to keep watch over her. I’m assigning you to her permanent guard.”

_Permanent Guard_ , Kakashi knows, means the end of his ANBU career for the foreseeable future. He nods at his Sensei, cannot even stomach thinking about being away from them for more than a few hours at a time now given what happened in the last few days, knows that he would never be able to forgive himself should something happen to either of the Namikazes while he was away.

* * *

Minato stands in front of the crowd, all just as weary and heartsick as he was as he addresses them. He speaks of the story crafted and spread by the Sandaime, by Danzo, by Fugaku. Tells them of Kushina’s sacrifice and of the Kyuubi’s likely eventual return. He does not speak of his daughter carrying the burden  _now_ but speaks in terms of the future. He knows it’s a dangerous play to allow people to know of his child but he has confidence in his ability to protect his baby, in the ability of his friends and guards to protect the children.

What he doubts though are the people’s hearts, he loves Konoha but he loathes the treatment his daughter would have received otherwise had he not returned. When he finishes his speech the people rouse and come together to console each other again and then return to the shelters set up in the immediate aftermath. There are injuries there that he knows only Tsunade would be able to heal and he hopes that she would return if only temporarily to help them and to see to Naru as well.

* * *

_Lady Tsunade,_

_I hope this letter finds you well and that you would at least read through the letter and give what I have to say due consideration rather than outright burning it. First I feel the need to tell you that the situation here in Konoha is truly dire and I would like to be the one to explain this to you before the rumors and stories reach you. Due to her status and the risk that was associated with it, we had kept the number of people who knew of Kushina’s pregnancy at the minimum. Despite this, someone had found out and had killed the medical staff and the ANBU stationed outside the cave she had given birth in before kidnapping her moments after she had finally given birth._

_By the time I was able to track her down, it was already too late and the seal had been forced open. Kushina was weakened but still alive though she rapidly deteriorated from there. I battled the man who had broken it free and it is my belief that it was Madara Uchiha, impossible as that may sound. After battling Madara, my attention turned to the Kyuubi and that was where Kushina came in, her chains held the Kyuubi in place while a seal was prepared and as only an Uzumaki could safely contain the Kyuubi it was to an Uzumaki that the duty fell to. Think of that what you will._

_I know that you of all people have a reason to stay away from Konoha but if you would, I implore you to return and aid the people who were injured during the Kyuubi’s attack. If not that then at least come and meet Kuhsina’s daughter and your niece. I know that we may not know each other well but given your blood ties with my wife, I hope that in time you would come to see me as family as well._

_Sincerely,_

_Minato_

* * *

Tsunade took another swig from the bottle as she re-read the letter for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Konoha had been devastated, Madara had made an appearance seemingly back from the dead (or had he never truly died in the first place?), and Kushina was dead.

_Kushina was dead._ That last thought kept ringing around her mind as she thought of the vibrant red-headed firecracker her cousin had been when they’d last seen each other. Her name had just as much power to strike fear into the hearts of men as her own name had. Konoha’s Red Dawn or the Red Hot Tempered Habanero were frequently interchanged. Kushina was dead and her child was motherless.

Her daughter would never grow knowing the traditions of the Senju and the Uzumaki clan, would never fully understand the duties she held as the last Royal Uzumaki. Minato could try but his culture was purely Konoha and he was a clanless orphan at that. She weighed her options in her mind as she grasped the cursed necklace, eyes turning towards the simple sliding door that separated her from Shizune.

Her apprentice tried to hide it but she knew that Shizune missed Konoha and a few weeks there every now and again would do her some good. The bloodied wounded could be seen to by Shizune who was a talented and capable medic herself and she could see Kushina’s child and say her goodbyes to her cousin. Placing her hands down onto the sheets she sighed.  _‘Might as well give my boys a scare.’_ She thought with a wicked grin. (Jiraiya and Orochimaru paused in their respective tasks and simultaneously shivered with fear.)

* * *

Tsunade shows up two weeks later and barely half a day after Jiraiya himself arrives in a village that was in mourning but slowly rebuilding. She greets her arguing teammates with a flick of her fingers to the backs of their heads and sends them flying. They’ve been together long enough that her chakra no longer registers as a threat to them and it shows in the surprised yelps and pained groans as they dig themselves out.

The crowd has already begun whispering about her presence, the older ones recognizing her immediately and in an instant, Jiraiya is there in front of her. The pervert eyeing her up and down with a lecherous grin that she promptly beats out of him while Orochimaru watches them with a fond smile. ANBU appears almost immediately to take them to the Hokage’s tower.

The office is different and it’s clear that the Hokage’s daughter has spent most of the three weeks that she’s lived inside that very office by the amount of baby things placed to one side, the side that is papered with every protective seal that Minato’s genius and paranoid mind can come up with and his last remaining student standing guard at the side. Orochimaru takes it in stride, clearly used to this in the days that have passed. There is none of the tension between the two men that she has heard had appeared after her teammate had been passed for Hokage.

“Seeing the paperwork you’re buried under makes me so happy that I’ve been passed over for the hat.” Orochimaru says voice as dry as the deserts of Suna.

Minato merely rolls his eyes at him, dark circles under his eyes but there is warmth in there and he smiles warmly as he takes in the three of them. “I honestly didn’t expect you to return, Tsunade-san.” He says, all honesty in his voice.

“I want to meet the next Senju and Uzumaki clan head.” Tsunade says, eyes twinkling as they flicker to the babe sleeping in the side of the room. There will be time for business later, for now, family comes first.

* * *

Tsunade doesn’t know how it happened but rather than the two weeks she’d planned, six years fly by and she’s still in Konoha acting as the Medical Director while dragging Orochimaru along as her chief researcher and keeping him busy with whatever medical experiments they can come up with (not to mention trying to set him up with women and men). Jiraiya is busy hunting down any lead on the supposed Madara and has unintentionally stumbled upon the Mizukage under a genjutsu powerful enough to control both bijuu and their jinchuuriki. The implication is terrifying and more proof that Madara or at least someone as powerful as he is, is behind this.

Danzo has also been kept suitably busy hunting for Madara’s ghost. What he encounters is a rumor of Akatsuki and an upcoming meeting with Hanzo the Salamander.  _‘Better the enemy you know than the one you don’t.’_ He thought fingers itching to write a letter until his eyes catch on the next report. Akatsuki has been approached by someone matching the description of Madara’s ghost and he’d been turned away.  _‘Akatsuki could be an ally. What do they know?’_ He thinks before he reads up on the leaders of the group.

The Ame Orphans, three children that Jiraiya had taught and taken care of after the Second War. Jiraiya, it seemed, was the key to getting Akatsuki to talk. A few strokes of his pen and soon enough well-placed words whispered in bars reach Jiraiya’s ears and he heads to Amegakure to reunite with his first pupils all the while dragging along the latest Uzumaki survivors he’s found that he’d been meaning to bring to Konoha just as he’s done with quite a few others.

* * *

Jiraiya stares at the three children he raised and nurtured for a year. Children no longer, these were adults by all conventional accounts and especially by shinobi standards. The two Uzumakis with him perks up as they zone in on Nagato and his red hair. Bronze chains pop out of Akihito Uzumaki’s back and wrap around Nagato to the surprise of all three of the Ame-nins. Konan and Yahiko’s stance shifts to hostile while Akihito ignores it as he cheerfully reels in the stunned boy.

“Cousin!” He says happily. “Well met!” And at that point, Nagato stops struggling while the other two just drop out of their stances in surprise.

Jiraiya cocks his head and surveys the two Uzumaki’s crowding around Nagato’s bound form… and yes, he can see it, sense it even through the familiar feel of an Uzumaki’s unique chakra. Huh. Jiraiya shrugs and grins at them before grabbing the other two in a hug. He'll help them with Hanzo, hopefully, the old Salamander wasn't as senile and paranoid as the rumors had said otherwise it would be a very bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Because obviously even the Master of Death has to file paperwork for unplanned mass deaths such as a Kyuubi on the loose since that was a moment filled with choices where Obito could have turned back, removed his disguise, and still be welcomed back to Konoha with open arms. And Madara cheating death? Yeah... his actions have given her a lot of paperwork to file so she goes and does a little cheat of her own and sends back her descendant's husband because... well... he doesn't have an ounce of her blood so it doesn't count as interfering with family affairs. Okay, maybe that was stretching it a bit too far but still, she figures out a loophole. So let me know what you guys think and please keep safe!


End file.
